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and lower classes Ito desire influence , which she denies them attainment of ; has qualified them for offices , which she forbids them to fill ; and if some be allowed to rise , yet they attain their ends , as it were , surreptitiously- — almost " on the sly "— -by crawling rather than by climbing , and when placed at the top of the ladder , develop their imbibed or natural meanness by extending their hands to none but their immediate friends , interest , or faction .
The wonder would be if , under these circumstances , we had not lofty incompetency , social disunion , strife , bitterness , and clamour ; yet the remedy is easy , and , as usual , to be applied by the middle class ¦ >—the medicine-vendors to the pride of the peer and to the poverty of the peasant ! Let each one to whom patronage belongs , however small , look out for desert , not consanguinity , to fill it ; and
remember that a vacant , nominal , or ill-supplied office is as much a robbery to the great storehouse of a people ' s greatness , as the introduction of water , into the veins , instead of blood , would be an impoverishment to the physical system . Most of our corporations have offices almost sinecures , to their disgrace be it spoken ; even their very chaplains are expected to eat rather than to preach ; yet how many great and
gifted ecclesiastics are there to whom such offices would afford the opportunity of becoming known to the world , bringing fame to their promoters , beyond the coop of rustic barbarism , where , aloof from society , their only relaxation from pastoral duty or learned study is to watch a cow brush flies with her tail off her glowing hide in thundery weather . Yet these -corporations are formed of individuals who perpetually cry out that the best men be put into the best places ,
which means as surely that an alderman ' s son , thrice plucked * should be installed into some sinecure , as that so many nights at the opera constitute a proper secretary in the Home Office , if relationship to Lord Yawner be added ; or , in a word , that the best man is always Number 1 , with an indefinite number of O ' s annexed , in the shape of high relations , whose discernment and intelligence , taken in the aggregate , " signify nothing . "
The circulation of this paper , widely diifused through our colonies , and , indeed , in every quarter of the globe , will cause these thoughts to be received , and , we trust , pondered upon , before the suppressed storm break forth and alarm the world . They are penned in a spirit
of philanthropy so entirely removed from political partizanship , that , short of an interest in our common country , their adoption , or indeed reception , is to us a matter of utter indifference . We feel for the oppressed—for those whose glowing genius , lofty spirit , and grand intellects nurse thoughts " which turn to thunder , scorch , and burst , "
and whose sensitiveness , the very element of noble minds , nurses the steel of disappointment which quivers in their breast , as they drivel out their years of doom " in cold oblivion ; " whilst , to their loss and their country ' s , selfish patrons foster fools ! Let each influential Mason , therefore , however limited his power , seek out fit genius for promotion ; the country wants it much now , Heaven knows ; she will perish without such aid , to a certainty ! What chance has mind
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
and lower classes Ito desire influence , which she denies them attainment of ; has qualified them for offices , which she forbids them to fill ; and if some be allowed to rise , yet they attain their ends , as it were , surreptitiously- — almost " on the sly "— -by crawling rather than by climbing , and when placed at the top of the ladder , develop their imbibed or natural meanness by extending their hands to none but their immediate friends , interest , or faction .
The wonder would be if , under these circumstances , we had not lofty incompetency , social disunion , strife , bitterness , and clamour ; yet the remedy is easy , and , as usual , to be applied by the middle class ¦ >—the medicine-vendors to the pride of the peer and to the poverty of the peasant ! Let each one to whom patronage belongs , however small , look out for desert , not consanguinity , to fill it ; and
remember that a vacant , nominal , or ill-supplied office is as much a robbery to the great storehouse of a people ' s greatness , as the introduction of water , into the veins , instead of blood , would be an impoverishment to the physical system . Most of our corporations have offices almost sinecures , to their disgrace be it spoken ; even their very chaplains are expected to eat rather than to preach ; yet how many great and
gifted ecclesiastics are there to whom such offices would afford the opportunity of becoming known to the world , bringing fame to their promoters , beyond the coop of rustic barbarism , where , aloof from society , their only relaxation from pastoral duty or learned study is to watch a cow brush flies with her tail off her glowing hide in thundery weather . Yet these -corporations are formed of individuals who perpetually cry out that the best men be put into the best places ,
which means as surely that an alderman ' s son , thrice plucked * should be installed into some sinecure , as that so many nights at the opera constitute a proper secretary in the Home Office , if relationship to Lord Yawner be added ; or , in a word , that the best man is always Number 1 , with an indefinite number of O ' s annexed , in the shape of high relations , whose discernment and intelligence , taken in the aggregate , " signify nothing . "
The circulation of this paper , widely diifused through our colonies , and , indeed , in every quarter of the globe , will cause these thoughts to be received , and , we trust , pondered upon , before the suppressed storm break forth and alarm the world . They are penned in a spirit
of philanthropy so entirely removed from political partizanship , that , short of an interest in our common country , their adoption , or indeed reception , is to us a matter of utter indifference . We feel for the oppressed—for those whose glowing genius , lofty spirit , and grand intellects nurse thoughts " which turn to thunder , scorch , and burst , "
and whose sensitiveness , the very element of noble minds , nurses the steel of disappointment which quivers in their breast , as they drivel out their years of doom " in cold oblivion ; " whilst , to their loss and their country ' s , selfish patrons foster fools ! Let each influential Mason , therefore , however limited his power , seek out fit genius for promotion ; the country wants it much now , Heaven knows ; she will perish without such aid , to a certainty ! What chance has mind